Bad kids go to Hell
by pussyriot
Summary: Claudia Gilbert, Elena and Jeremy's cousin has a problem; she suffers from writer's block. This is not a good thing if you're an English student and an aspiring writer. Her tutor advises her to go back to her roots, unfortunately her roots involved self righteous damsels, devastatingly gorgeous vampires and malicious yet insatiable immortals with God complexes. DxC CxS CxSilas
1. Chapter 1

Was there a more dull town than Mystic Falls? I thought not, the population alone was enough to drive anyone to run to the hills, and by God were there a lot of hills. This I noted as I strolled through the outskirts of the town, if you can call it that. I was looking for the infamous Salvatore boarding house, said to be located in the suburbs. Although I was under the impression that they'd have to be in a city to warrant the term 'suburbs'. I began my descent of yet another gravelly hill and was greeted with something that I hadn't seen on the numerous previous occasions. A man, a young man... a handsome young man was standing at the bottom of the hill, staring up at me. It was slightly disconcerting... but I still made my way down the hill, steadfastly ignoring him. I reached the bottom, and the place where we would pass one another. He was still staring at me, but I moved right past him. That was until he said in a soft voice, "Miss."

I stopped and turned my head slightly. I was suddenly startled as he was much closer to me that he'd once seemed, "Good afternoon," I replied. As I continued looking at him, I became somewhat mesmerized by his dark forrest green eyes. It was almost physical... this pull I felt toward him purely because of his eyes. And then it stopped, I took a small step back and shook my head as if shaking off an irritating itch. "May I help you?" I asked.

He frowned slightly, had he noticed the brief connection? "I don't know. Perhaps you can, I'm looking for Elena Gilbert."

Another surprise. This odd yet incandescently beautiful creature was looking for Elena, my Elena. "How odd," I replied, then at his quizzical expression added, "It just so happens that I'm looking for Elena too. She's my cousin."

"How interesting, I didn't know Elena had any extended family," He said, folding his arms and cocking his head to the side surveying me as if searching for any signs of untruths.

"She likes to keep me a secret, my family has a habit of dropping dead at the slightest shake of the Earth. Sorry, I didn't get your name... Mr..."

"Silas," He replied with a polite nod, "It's just Silas."

"Just Silas..." I repeated, "Well Mr Silas... how unconventional. Anyway, I'm actually looking for the Salvatore Boarding house. Point me in the right direction and you'll be pointing yourself in the right direction of my cousin."

A slight smile played across his lips, "You haven't given me your name Miss..."

"Gilbert. Claudia Gilbert."

He studied my face for a moment, taking this information in and said, "Well Miss Claudia, the Salvatore boarding house is just over that hill, but you can take a short cut through that forest."

"You're not coming?" I asked.

"No, I have a prior engagement. But I'm sure walking you would be much more fun."

I nodded, "I've no doubt. Well it was nice to meet you Mr Silas, and thank you for the directions." And that was that, we parted ways and I took his shortcut through the woods.

I found the house... it was hard to miss it, it was a fucking mansion for God's sake. I knocked on the huge oak door and waited for what seemed like centuries. The door finally opened to reveal another absurdly beautiful man. From his jet black hair to his bright aqua eyes he screamed sex. Who knew Mystic Falls could produce such prominent male real estate.. twice in one day, they were probably brothers. "Mr Salvatore?" I asked.

He studied me for a moment, "Depends on who's asking..."

Meaning yes... of course. "That would be Mr Salvatore's current girlfriend's cousin... or if you'd like Mr Salvatore's current girlfriend's late biological father's daughter."

He frowned at this... clearly he'd never heard of me. "Elena's cousin...?" He asked.

I nodded, "Claudia Gilbert," And held out my hand for him to shake.

We shook, his grip was firm and I had to reming myself not to think about my cousin's boyfriend's junk... some would deem it inappropriate. "Or I could call you my girlfriend's biological half sister."

This hit me like a bullet to the brain. Elena... my biological half sister? Impossible... unless.. I never knew my mother, she fucked off when I was a baby, so unless Elena's my father"s daughter then it's impossible... it must be. "Whatever you'd like to call me, it's nice to meet you Mr Salvatore. Is Elena in... or Jeremy?"

He nodded, "Elena is out of town for the next few hours but Jeremy should be home from School any second. Come in, you're welcome to wait."

I stepped pst him to the grand old sitting room, or 70s auction whatever you'd like to call it.

"Can I get you a drink?" He asked.

"I'd love a glass of water." He nodded and made his way round the bar that was right i the middle of the giant room. "Have you traveled far? You don't sound like you've been in this country for... a very long time."

I chuckled and nodded, "My father John moved us away from Mystic Falls when I was 15. We've lived in London ever since."

He came round, handed me a glass and then sat on the sofa opposite, "London wow, I've been meaning to go back, I've always loved it."

"Well you're very welcome to stay with me. Although I live most of the time in Cambridge, I'm in London for the holidays."

"Thank you," he leant back slightly, "So why did you move to Cambridge... sorry I'm asking so many questions."

I smiled, "Don't be sorry, you live with my only remaining relatives, it's important we get to know each other. I go to university in Cambridge. Selwin college."

"Smart girl," He eyed me for a moment, "Elena's never mentioned you."

"She's not one to brag," I joked. He chuckled and I continued, "I've not really spoken to her in years. My family has a communication problem. Have you ever done anything you feel guilty about, but are too proud to apologize for?" I shook my head before he could answer, "Sorry, I don't want to bore you with ridiculous questions." At that moment, there came the sound of the door unlocking, and I caught the first glimpse of my cousin Jeremy for four years. I stood up, and Jeremy froze. His expression moved from that of complete utter surprise to that of complete utter disgust. We stood there for a moment as his bag slipped off his shoulder and hit the ground, "Who the fuck do you think you are, showing your face here after all this time?"

Damon, who'd remained sat down staring at me throughout the whole merry exchange then stood up, "Language Jeremy. Why don't you sit down and have a well needed chat with your cousin?"

I looked at him with imploring eyes and eventually he sat down in Damon's vacated spot, crossed his arms and with raised eyebrows, asked, "Why are you here?"

I blurted out the first funny thing I could think of and said, "I need money," His eyes widened and I sat down very quickly, "That was sarcasm Jeremy... I... my course broke up for the holiday so I went home, back to London. Once I was there I realized that I'm lonely. I'm so lonely Jer, after dad died I had no one."

"You had me," He snapped, "You had Elena. But then you left."

"Jeremy I was fifteen, I couldn't not move to England with my father-"

"-and you couldn't pick up a phone, you couldn't come and visit, you couldn't send a postcard?"

I swallowed, "I didn't know what to say."

"How about, I'm sorry your parents, your aunt, your uncle and everyone else in your life has died. I mean for christ sake Claudia, your father died... you didn't even come to the funeral."

"And I've regretted it ever since," It was my turn to snap, "Do you want to know where I was the day my father died? I was in rehab Jeremy. I spent that whole summer trying to get over things that most people can't ever dream of. The doctors, they didn't tell me because they thought I'd do something stupid. I couldn't face you or Elena after that."

Gobsmacked was the only word I'd use to describe his expression. "Rehab?" He asked, "You were in rehab?"

I nodded, "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you anything. I know it's a massive ask, but d'you think you could find it in your heart to forgive me?"

It took a few minutes, but his face eventually melted. He stood up, opened his arms and scooped me up into a hug. "Of course I forgive you Claud, but I can't say the same for Elena."

'Your silence is deafening Elena," I stated. We were all sitting in the living room, in silence. Jeremy, Elena, Damon and I, in complete deafening silence. She looked at me through her giant doe eyes. I didn't know what it was, but something about those puppy dog eyes made me want to punch something. She began to say something but I zoned out repeating to myself in my head to remember my therapy. I tuned back in to hear her say in a cracked tone, "I just really missed you Claud."

We hugged, she wept, I pretended to. It seemed that the only person to not believe me was Damon. From behind Elena and Jeremy's backs I could see him smirk at me. I just rolled my eyes at him. The door then opened for the third time. I nearly choked when I saw who it was. "Hi... everyone," Silas said, stepping inside.

Damon turned, "Hi brother. You're just in time." Brother? I knew the only two attractive people in the whole town must've been related. Silas came into the living room, "Brother, this is Claudia, Elena and Jeremy's cousin."

His eyes widened, "Cousin?" This confused me, we'd spoken about exactly this earlier.

"We've met," I said.

Silas frowned, "I think you must be confused. I've never met you in my life."

I shook my head, "What are you talking about? We spoke earlier as I was just coming into town. You introduced yourself, I introduced myself... Silas right?"

All four of them seem to turn white at exactly the same time. "You met Silas?" Elena asked, her tone deadly serious. "Elena," I replied, "He's standing right there."

"Yeah, that's not Silas," Damon chipped in, "That's my younger brother Stefan. Silas is... someone a tad older."

"Claud I think you should sit down."

Vampires? Werewolves? Witches? Hybrids?... You're having a laugh. I looked round at the earnest faces in front of me. "Would you excuse me," I asked, "I need some fresh air."

I hurried out onto the gravelly driveway and immediately lit a camel blue. Relief and calm rushed through me... I didn't know that you could be rushed with calm, it's somewhat of an oxymoron, but you can be. Either my cousins had all gone insane, or I was on LSD. To be perfectly honest, the latter was just as possible as the former. Vampires were not real, they only existed in nineteenth century literature and bad chick lit... right? Sure they were supposed to be ethereally beautiful, that was accurate in the cases of Damon and Stefan... and if they were telling the truth, Elena also. If they were telling the truth, Jeremy was a vampire hunter, and Silas the doppelgänger of Stefan was a bajillion year old immortal being with ex girlfriend issues and a God complex... Although if that were true, Stefan was Silas' doppelgänger. I took another drag, "I'm in way over my head. I need to get out of here."

"Is everything okay?" I heard right in my ear. I whipped round to see Damon looking concerned. "You've got that expression perfected," I noted.

He raised his eyebrows for a moment, and then snorted, "Well observed. But seriously, how are you holding up?"

I shrugged, "Do you have any form of narcotic on you?"

"So not great then?" He studied my face for a moment, "Do you want to get out of here? Elena's suggested that I take you for a coffee to calm you down."

"Do you want to get pissed then?"

He let out a surprised laugh, "You're nothing like your cousin."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

I'd thought that there was no place more depressing that the Wetherspoons on Webbers Road on the arse end of Waterloo station, apparently I was wrong. The Mystic Grill was dark, dirty and full of drunk high school teachers. I will say that it sold incredibly cheap booze. Damon took me to the bar and we ordered two bourbons straight up. "Is she twenty one?" Damon winked at me, leant slightly forward, stared at the barman directly in the eyes, and murmured, "This girl's age is none of your concern. You'll continue to serve and not ask questions, and all our drinks are on the house." The barman shook himself slightly, smiled handed us the drinks and said, "On the house. All on the house."

"Thank you very much," Damon replied.

Once the barman was out of ear shot, I stage whispered, "What the fuck was that?"

"One of the many perks of being immortal sweetheart." He smirked, "You don't believe it do you?"

"Even you can admit it's a tad far fetched," I shot back.

"Yes but consider this, would Elena ever lie to you?"

"You're right. Plus she hasn't the imagination for it... Listen honey, I have trust issues."

He let out a long laugh, even his laugh sounded sexy. "I like you Claudia. You have the one thing the rest of the Gilbert family don't seem to have."

"A DUI?"

"Nope, a sense of humor," He noted my empty glass, "And you can drink. What say you to shots?"

"I say marry my cousin so we can have a hot steamy affair every six months."

It was half an hour later and we were both suitably pissed. Damon had had the catastrophic idea that we should play pool. I was not skilled at pool, that added with half a dozen shots made for a very messy Claudia. I say half a dozen... it was a pretty fucking large dozen. He was attempting to teach me how to break, in very slurred English, when someone familiar looking wandered over to us. "Miss Gilbert," This had to be Silas, "I see you've met the town fool."

I looked from him to Damon and said, "You're right Damon, Stefan's much better looking than this."

Silas simply chuckled, "So you've learned the whole story," He raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"PLaying pool," I replied, fumbling with the stick.

"I was stuck in a cave for a thousand years and I still can play," In a second, he was behind me, pressing his crotch into my back and holding me, holding the stick, "It's all about the grip, there you go." ONe of the balls went into the pouch thing, but he remained right where he was. "Okay, I think that's enough pool for one day," Damon interjected, yanking me from his grasp. "It's over when I say it is," Silas hissed at Damon. He urned to me and his face melted into a seductive smile, "Bye Claudia, I'll see you around." And he was gone. "Why did that sound like a threat?" I wondered aloud.

"Because it was one," He sighed, "We should get back."

"Listen Damon," I said, I'd been planning this in my head for the past twenty minutes, "I've had a very nice time here. You've made coming home and facing everyone so much easier and I'm grateful for it. Over the next couple of days, there's going to be a lot of tension between Elena and me, but I'd really like it if we could be friends."

"Well I've never wanted to have sex with one of my friends before, but I guess there's first for everything."


	2. Chapter 2

I stared at the blank page in front of me, willing inspiration and genius to flow... nothing happened. Why didn't this happen to Sal from _On the Road _by Jack Kerouac? Why didn't this happen to Castiglione when he wrote that God awful _The Courtier? _I stood up from the spindly wooden chair in the room I'd chosen from the many in the boarding house. Castiglione had promise of fortune and favor, Jack Kerouac had Benzedrine and Marijuana, alcohol and Amphetamine mixed together... i.e speed... if I was to write a Pulitzer award winning short story, I needed a little incentive. I turned off my miniature laptop, shoved it in my bag and headed downstairs. "Jeremy," I greeted my cousin who was lounging on one of the sofas. He looked up, "Hey Claud, what's up?"

"Well," I perched on the sofa's arm, "I remember my dad telling me that you on occasion like to fly the friendly skies, I need inspiration... so do you want to get baked?"

He raised his eyebrows whilst smirking, "I thought you didn't party anymore."

"And I don't," I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "You call weed partying? Dude I used to do things that you wouldn't dare to dream."

He let out a slight chuckle, "Well I don't have any on me, but I still have my old hookup's number, I'll see what I can do."

"Right, I'm going to fix some cocktails," I stood up and began to rifle through Damon's bar. At Jeremy's stunned face, I added, "I'm not scared of him, he's ancient. What are you still doing here, there's weeding needs doing."

"So when the bouncer went in search of all the fake commotion, we slipped inside and spent the whole night partying with Danielle Radcliffe and those other guys from Harry Potter that no one cares about," I finished. Jeremy stared at me open mouthed for a while before bursting out laughing, "Oh MY God Claud! How do you manage these things?"

"Natural charm and fantastic connections," I shrugged and we heard a key in the lock and his eyes darted down to the coffee table, littered with rizzlers, filters and loose weed... not to mention the various alcohol bottles and margarita mix. I rolled my eyes, "Don't be a pussy Jeremy."

"Who's a pussy?" Came Damon's voice. He strode into the living room, followed by Elena and Stefan. They all froze. Stefan looked vaguely amused, Elena worried and angry and Damon just looked astounded. "You're doing a shake and bake night... and you didn't invite me?" He demanded, flopping down next to Jeremy and yanking the spliff from his hands before taking a long drag. "Damon," Elena exclaimed indignantly.

He rolled his eyes, "Loosen up babe."

"You shouldn't be encouraging him," She huffed, "Jeremy, this stuff has severe lasting effects if it doesn't actually kill you. You Claudia should know better."

"Yes Elena, I do know better," I stood up, "I happen to know that Marijuana can cause paranoid schizophrenia," She raised her eyebrows, "When smoked every day for up to I'd say... seven years or so. On this particular subject, I am far more well versed than you. So don't make such sweeping statements about things you don't understand."

"That's the alcohol talking 'Lena," Jeremy stood up, "She doesn't mean that."

"He's right," I sighed, "I'm sorry for snapping Elena. I think I'm going to take a walk to cool down." Before anyone could object, I grabbed my bag and hurried out.

The night was beautiful. The moonlight was perfectly reflected onto the white rocks by the crystalline properties of the waterfalls. I lamented my younger self's philistine ways. To have lived in this town for fifteen odd years, and to have never once visited the falls. I was lounging with my legs stretched out in front of me on top of rather small cliff that stood out slightly above the falls. My iPhone was resting on a rock in front of me, the dulcet tones of Mozart's _Lacrimosa _from his requiem echoing out of it. It was the perfect scene. That was until I was interrupted. Stefan, and I was sure it was Stefan because he looked suitably sane, appeared through the trees and proceeded to plonk down next to me. After a brief moment of silence, I stated, "Elena sent you here to check on me... or to tick me off."

He looked ahead at the falls and smiled slightly, "I don't know why, but even without my memory, this place feels like home."

I looked round slightly, Stefan's profile was bathed in moonlight and I couldn't help but admire his beauty. "What's it like?" I asked, "Without your memory, what's it like in your mind?"

He seemed lost in thought for a moment, "It's like... partial blindness. There's a certain fogginess, and every so often you feel like you've got something, like you can just make something out, so when you try harder to grasp it, another layer of fog comes down and clouds everything. It's so frustrating, because you want to remember. I want to remember these people who claim to be my family and friends, I want to love them again, but it's like they're total strangers."

"You can't force emotion," I finished for him.

"That's right," He turned to look at me for the first time, "You know you're the first person to ask me that question. Everyone seems so hell bent on getting me my memory back, but none of them seem interested in what I'm thinking now."

With this confession, he didn't let onto any of his feelings towards it. To me it was apparent that it pissed him off, "I know what you mean," I said, "When I was ill, everyone; my father, my friends, my doctors and nurses, they all were desperate for me to get better again. What they didn't realize was that to me it was no illness, it was my reality... my world, my state of mind. In a way, my treatments were futile, because they'll never cure me of my consciousness. The more they try, the more they'll kill me."

"But you're off drugs now?"

"Real drugs yes," I replied, "But every so often I like to let loose and have fun. Elena can't and that's why she takes offense to everyone else does." He opened his mouth but I went on, "I know that you're about to tell me that she's the most compassionate person you've ever met, and I daresay she is compassionate. It's her personal philosophy I take a disliking to. She seems to believe that the be all and end all in life is to have a boyfriend."

He chuckled, "And you don't believe that?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Don't mistake this for a celibacy confession, I have sex. But I've no desire to tie myself to someone for ever that I'll no doubt tire of within hours."

"You're not remotely like your cousins."

"So I've been told. You're not much like your brother... or your psycho doppelgänger."

"Well well well," Came an all too familiar voice from the forest. The evil one strutted over, it was eery how identical they were. "This is precious, this moment of connection." He wasn't looking at me, he was smirking at Stefan, but there wasn't just amusement there. Deep in his striking green eyes was something else, rage. Intense piercing rage. "You're right," I said, "This is a nice moment, but now you've interrupted it. If you'd be so kind as to jump off this cliff, we can get back to it."

His gaze shifted to me, "Claudia, you look radiant this evening. But I must admit, I am somewhat hurt that you're not pleased to see me."

"I am Silas, believe me, I am," I picked up my phone hopped off the rock and said, "I ought to give you a moment. I'll see you at home Stefan."

I winked at him, grinned at Silas and then turned and swept back into the darkness.

Back at home, all hell had broken loose. Jeremy was yelling at Elena, Damon was yelling at Jeremy for yelling at Elena and Elena was yelling at the both of them. "What on Earth is going on?" I demanded, silencing them.

"We've come up with a way to bring Bonnie back from the dead," Jeremy replied hastily.

"Bonnie's dead?" I asked, incredulously.

"Yes she is, and we can bring her back but we're arguing about how to convince the person able to do it, to do it."

"Who is this person?" I asked calmly.

"It's Silas," he replied, "Elena is trying to convince us to let her flirt her way to Bonnie\s salvation."

"And you're worried for her safety," I stated, "Damon, what do you think about this?"

"I think it's a stupid idea. For one thing, she could die, also how do we know that it will even work?"

"It will work," Elena piped up, "Silas' one true love was the original doppelgänger. It'll work."

There was a moment of silence, before Damon blurted out, "Claudia should do it."

"What?" Elena and I demanded simultaneously.

He stepped forward, "It's perfect. He won't fancy Elena because she reminds him of the pain of losing what's her name. But it's obvious he fancies Claudia."

"Is it now?" Elena snapped, this caused me to raise my eyebrows at her.

"He does. I mean come on Elena, she's an attractive girl."

"She's not attractive," Stefan stepped through the front door, "She's absolutely stunning. It will work, Silas is obsessed."

Elena and I both wheeled round at this. She looked absolutely stunned, I managed to keep a passive expression. Nobody spoke. "This is absurd," I cried after too long a while. "This is absurd. I'm all for using sex as a weapon, particularly on someone so in need of it. But this isn't just any man we're talking about. He's too experienced, not to mention the man's clearly a genius."

All of their mouths seemed to drop at once. "You're complimenting him, really?" Jeremy exclaimed. I rolled my eyes, "Come on Jeremy. To know your opponent you must accept the bad and the good. He's clever enough to have evaded the transience of life these past few thousand years."

"Now is not the time for your writer speak," Elena snapped.

" 'Writer speak' Wow, did you come up with that one on your own Elena," I shot back.

"Oh my God! I am sick of you thinking you're above everyone else just because you go to fucking Cambridge."

Another silence. This time filled with something, some unspoken understanding from Jeremy and perhaps even Damon. I stepped forward slightly, and the words fell off my tongue as I realized I'd been wanting to say them for years. "I do not think I'm above you because I go to, as you so eloquently put it, fucking Cambridge," My voice was smooth and dangerous, venomous as a snake's poison, "No, I however know that I have a couple of things that you will never have. Chief among these being understanding."

She snorted, "What do you understand that I don't."

"Isn't it obvious?" I questioned, "I understand the importance of discretion, I understand the

incentive of intense emotion and above all things Elena, I understand humanity. Yes you may possess certain things, compassion, beauty, the ability to love. But without any understanding of these gifts, how will you cultivate them?" I turned and addressed the rest of the room, "I will do what you ask, but allow me to pose a suggestion; don't put Elena in charge of the minute details."

So maybe I overdid the theatrics a little. Elena had this way of making me forget all the rules of propriety. When we were younger, our friends and family acted as though the light shone out of her arse, and for something quite unexceptional. Yes Elena was beautiful, and yes she was kind and compassionate... but she lacked any hint of color. What is kindness and compassion without intelligence? Without any character? She epitomized the all american dream. She would someday probably make an excellent wife. I shook myself out of my boring anti-Elena thoughts and concentrated on the task in hand; lighting my damn cigarette. It was perched between my lips. None of my lighters were working and it was really starting to piss me off. And then suddenly... I inhaled and got the first perfect sense of nicotine and tobacco. I looked round, surprised to see Silas standing there arms folded, looking pretty pleased with himself. I looked from him, to my cigarette and back to him. "You're welcome," He smirked.

"My night in shining... cobwebs," I replied, "Evening Silas."

He frowned slightly, "Something's bothering you, what is it?"

It was my turn to frown, "Why do you care?"

He sighed and adjusted his posture slightly, "Why is it that everyone thinks I'm such a bad person?"

"I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's because you are such a bad person."

He raised his arms in mock horror, "I'm hurt, really Claudia. You know I'm only a bad person towards those I don't care about."

"You're saying you care about me now?" I asked.

He straightened up, unfolded his arms and took a small step towards me, "Why wouldn't I?

You're interesting... intelligent and beautiful, very beautiful."

I shook my head, "You're being charming, and I'm not in the mood for handsome charming mysterious men this evening."

He raised his eyebrows, "So you think I'm handsome."

"Come on man, you know you are."

He took another step, "Just as you know you're intelligent and beautiful, so don't play games. We can't play games with one another."

I looked away from his penetrating gaze to the ground and crossed my arms, "Well you needn't worry, I'm a bad person too."

"What do you mean?"

I swallowed, "I'm kind of a bitch to my cousin for no apparent reason. I find it difficult to make emotional attachments to people, I don't seem to care about... well anyone."

"You're not a bad person Claudia," I looked up at him and was once again caught in his stare, "You're not a bad person, you're just lost."

"Lost," I contemplated, "That's polite."

"It's the truth. I can help you find what it is you're looking for."

I looked up to see him much closer than I'd thought, "Aren't you supposed to be waiting to be reunited with your one true love or something?"

"I can't help it when I see a pretty face upset... call me old fashioned"

Something in his eyes was... it just didn't make sense to me. I shook myself, "Yes well, call me a feminist. I don't need your help Silas, so whatever game you're playing, give up."

I leant against the door after having stormed back in the house in a very feministy way. After letting out a deep breath, I stood up and noticed Stefan, sitting on the sofa brooding into his whiskey. He looked up and nodded at me, "Evening."

"Where's Jeremy? And this seasons most annoying power couple?"

"All upstairs. After your little... confrontation, Elena went into a huff, Damon followed her and Jeremy went off to brood some."

"Yes I'll admit, that was unkind of me." I sat down next to him and swiped his drink.

"I think she could do with coming down a peg or two," He sighed.

"You're upset about the two of them, even though you don't remember either of them."

"You're awfully perceptive, even though you don't know me."

I downed the rest of the drink and rested the drink on the table, "It must suck, having to wait down here for them to come and play let's remember Stefan's life, and all the time you're waiting, they're most likely shagging."

"Lovely way to put it thanks."

"I was in my first year of hospitalization when I had this doctor named Kit, Christopher Kit for short. He was... everything, beautiful, clever. He controlled my every thought, move... everything I ingested so in theory he was my God, the ruler of my universe. Anyway he allowed a little flirtation to continue, nothing really happened looking back on it. But I went through every little minute detail in my head over and over. Every conversation, every look.

Turns out, my attempts were futile. There was someone else, some blonde nurse named Cherie or something unbelievably dumb like that. Point is, I would wait in my room, I say room ikea cell is more like it, I'd wait for hours for him to help me because I thought he wanted to. All the while he was shagging Cherie, or was it Sugar? Enter white trash girl's name here."

He raised his eyebrows, "Did you spend a year dating and falling in love with this Kit?"

"No- but-"

"-Then it's not exactly the same thing. I don't think you understand," He moved to stand up, but I grabbed his hand. "We live in a world that is beyond our control, and life is in a constant flux of change. So we have a decision to make: keep trying to control a storm that is not going to go away or start learning how to live within the rain."


	3. Chapter 3

Why did I say that? Why did I recite that profound little parable to Stefan like that? What did I want? I shook my head and sat up in bed. It had been a restless night, and the stale six AM light was flooding into the room. Why did I always have to such an arse? I threw the covers off me and hopped out of bed. This was the dawn of a new day, a new era if you will of my peaceful co-existence with my cousin. I hurried downstairs, it was apparent that I was the first to wake, and busied myself in the kitchen.

An hour and several toaster burns later, I was carrying the tray upstairs. It was laden with toast, jams and spreads, pastries and fruits as well as two glasses of orange juice and two blood bags. I shuffled into the darkened room, moved to the curtains and threw them open. "What the fuck," Damon groaned as he and Elena stirred.

"Claudia, what is this?" Elena croaked.

I held the tray up, then placed it on the bed in front of them and said, "Peace offering. I realize now that my behavior last night towards you Elena was unforgivable. I hope that we can put it behind us and work towards a better relationship. I want more than anything to help what's left of this family to thrive and so I'm willing to do all it takes. If this means a little harmless flirtation with Silas then so be it."

Elena's face melted into a smile, "Claudia, it's okay. I forgive you. I know it must be hard to come home to all this change. I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"My dear cousin, you ought to know by now that I'm comfortable with almost everything. So eat up, I need the two of you and Jeremy gone before the sun is at it's brightest."

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked.

"I'm thinking all of you lot spend the day bonding somewhere far away, we let it be known that I'm home alone and, if Stefan's right and Silas does fancy me, then I'll have him right where I want him."

"Claudia, we can't leave you alone with him," Elena insisted.

"I won't be alone," I replied, "Caroline's around the place somewhere and no doubt Stefan will refuse to go out in favor of brooding or shaping his hair. Trust me Elena, I do my best work alone. You know first hand that I am perfectly capable of making someone feel shit about themselves."

"She has a point," Damon interjected.

"Plus, it will give you some time to reconnect with the family unit," I added, "Take Jeremy somewhere fun away from it all. But you have to help me choose an outfit."

Elena couldn't help grinning, "Fine. Promise me you won't 'shag' him."

I chuckled, "Nice use of British slang, and do you really think that low of me E? Silas is hot... and I haven't had any action in a while."

"Not that one," Elena said, "You don't want to come across as desperate."

"Duly noted," I threw the dress down on the bed and faced her, "How are you doing anyway?"

She offered a small smile, "I'm okay, we just need to sort this whole Silas thing out and then figure out a way to get Bonnie back and it'll all be fine."

I sat down next to her, "Elena, I asked you how you're doing, not you plural. You know you can tell me anything, you've been the only constant in my life and I guarantee you, whatever you feel guilty about, I've done much worse." Her eyes filled with emotion for a moment, but then pointed at her ear, indicating to the vampiric presence in the house. I nodded, "Let's get out of here, just for half an hour or so."

"I haven't been here for ages," Elena exclaimed as we entered the gargantuan lavender field at the top of Mystic Falls. "Remember when your parents and John would bring us here on lazy Sundays?" I asked.

She smiled, it was a smile twinged with sadness, "I never told you how sorry I am for your loss Claudia."

"You didn't have to, it was your loss too. Now tell me, who's better in the sack, Damon or Stefan?"

She shoved me playfully, "Come on Claud."

"Can't blame me for asking. They're both absurdly hot."

She grinned, "They are aren't they? It's so frustrating. When I loved Stefan, I couldn't help but notice how hot Damon was, and now that I love Damon-"

"-You're noticing Stefan's banging bod?" I offered.

She nodded, "Am I a terrible person?" she asked.

"You're not a horrible person, you're human... as it were. I'm insanely jealous that you've got to sample all the goods. Would you mind if I hit on Stefan?"

She smirked, "Go for it, I think he might need a good screw after what he's been through."

I stared at her in mock shock, "My my cousin, your coarse language is very uncharacteristic."

"We should be getting back. Damon wants us on the road by nine," She turned to me, "Please be careful Claudia. You're so clever, and a great actress... but this is a very old being we're talking about. Be careful you don't break his heart, he might-"

"-Break my neck?" I asked, "Elena, you need to get away for a few hours, have a nice time with your boyfriend and your little brother safe in the knowledge that I will be waiting for you when you return. I promise to be safe sound and as annoying as ever."

"By Jeremy," He grinned from the back seat of the car, then plugged himself into his iPod. I felt strong arms wrap around me, "Be careful Claudia," Damon said, he kissed the top of my head before hopping into the driver's seat. Elena stepped up, "I love you Claudia."

My breath got caught in my throat for a moment, "Love you too Elena." She pulled me into a tight hug then hurried into the car. "Now bugger off!" I called, she smiled over her shoulder, and they were off. "You're a big softie at heart, aren't you?" Stefan asked form behind me. I turned to him with a smile, "You're not?"

He shrugged, "Got no idea do I."

"Have I you mean," I replied, "Well let's sort this out."

"How?" He frowned, "I have no memories."

"Well let's make some. Come on broody, go fix your hair and we can go."

"Just a bit further," I said, finally reaching the top of the ridge, "Here." I finished triumphantly. Stefan reached me, and he stared out at the lavender field, "It's beautiful. How is this going to help?" I held out my hand, and he took it. Stepping forward, I said

"Look around, take in the trees, the blue of the sky, the purple and green of the lavender." I allowed him a few minutes before adding, "Now close your eyes," He did as he was told, and I followed suit, "Now feel the sun on your skin, take in the beautiful smell of the grass and the flowers, feel my hand in yours. Make memories. These are your moments, no one can take these from you. And if ever you'e misfortunate enough to get another bout of amnesia, come to me and we'll do this again. It isn't about remembering Stefan, It's about this, right here right now. No matter how many times you do it, beauty doesn't fade."

I opened my eyes to find him looking back at me, "You're beautiful," He said.

I smiled, then looked down, "I'm not good at this sort of stuff. I can flirt. Meaningless flirting is so easy."

"This isn't meaningless."

I blinked a few times, "I know. That's why it's so hard."

"What's hard?" he asked.

"Damon and Elena are out today so that I can get some alone time with Silas."

He stared at me for a moment, "You can't... it's too dangerous."

"I have to do my bit you see. All I've ever done is watch from the sidelines, stuck in my own little world as my family, my friends struggle with their lives. I need to do something meaningful."

"Staying alive is meaningful enough," he insisted.

I shook my head, "I'm not going to die Stefan. I'm going to live, for my family, and for you. but I have to do this first, I have to help out in any way I can."

He nodded, "I understand. Please be careful. I want to be on hand in case anything should go wrong."

I swallowed, "I fear you're being around would only cause more trouble than it could salvage."

Stefan had eventually agreed and left me in favor of spying on some psycho witch named Tessa. Meanwhile, I headed back home, slipped out of my clothes, threw on a short robe over my black underwear and waited for the inevitable doorbell ring. I gave myself the once over, fluffing up my shoulder blade length wavy dark brown hair, and lining my deep grey eyes with mascara. And then the doorbell sounded. I grabbed my Chanel no. 5, spritzed myself a few times before hurrying downstairs and pulling open the door to reveal, as I expected, Silas leaning against the doorframe. He noticed my state of undress and smirked. So I, feigning horror, pulled the robe tightly around my body. "What can I do for you?" I asked through gritted teeth.

He cocked his head to the side, "Word about town is you're all alone at home. The Brady Bunch left you all on your lonesome-"

"-What's your point?" I asked in a bored tone.

"I thought I'd come over and keep you company. May I come in? Oh wait," He pushed past me and walked into the living room, "Of course I can."

"Listen Silas, I was hoping to spend the day relaxing. I was just about to run a bath."

He grinned, "Sounds perfect, mind if I join?"

"Yes I do," I snapped, "You're public enemy number one in this house."

He ignored that and moved closer to me, "Let's do something, just the two of us."

I studied his face, "Sorry, I'm not really in the mood. I- I found out something somewhat distressing recently."

Concern clouded his face, "What's happened?" He asked, his voice hardening.

I swallowed, "An old friend of mine, Bonnie Bennet... I found out last night that she's dead."

He nodded, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"I just wish... I just wish there was something we could do. You'd think, among all the vampires and werewolves and fucking witches, there'd be a way of bringing back someone too young to die."

He studied my face for a moment, then, in one movement, marched right up close to me, wrapped his arms around my middle and yanked me into him. He stared into my eyes for a moment, "I thought we said no games Claudia," His tone was dangerously smooth and soft, "But this is so transparent. Too bad, I suppose I'll just have to be careful with who I trust." He brought his right hand up to rest upon my forehead, and then I felt the most blinding pain stretching through my body and everything went black.

"Claudia... Claudia wake up." I felt myself being shaken, and saw Stefan leaning over me with a worried expression. "What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know. I came back to find you on the ground. Did Silas come?"

I struggled to remember anything of the last five hours, and then I felt a sharp sting in my right wrist. I sat up, and looked down. "Holy Motherfuck," I gasped. There was a beautifully intricate black pattern inked into my skin. It looked like a series of spheres interwoven.

"You don't remember getting this tattoo?" Stefan asked.

I shook my head, "I Don't. I definitely did not have this this morning. What does it mean?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. But I think I know someone who might."

"No Elena... no I'm fine," I insisted into the phone, "Stefan and I are both fine, we just wanted to take a short road trip to chase down a lead on the Silas issue. We won't be long, yes we'll be careful... Okay. I'll see you in a day or two." I put my phone away, and looked up at the beautiful buildings we were zooming past. "What are we doing in New Orleans, Stefan?" I asked.

He looked sideways at me, "There's someone you need to meet... and I need to re-acquaint myself with."


	4. Chapter 4

_American Horror Story_

"Oh my," I breathed as we stepped out of Stefan's car. I'd seen beautiful buildings, I was a student at one of the world's most beautiful universities for goodness sake, but this mansion was beyond. It was breathtaking. "This is stunning," I uttered.

"It is, it was a plantation back in the day. We've come here to see an old friend of mine named Klaus Mikaelson. Listen, he's a little intense so just follow my lead."

We walked up the steps to the front door and Stefan knocked thrice. After a moment, it opened to reveal an attractive blonde man dressed in expensive looking dark jeans and a nicely fitted grey tee shirt. Oh my. When he saw Stefan, he looked surprised for a second before his expression moulded into a sexily arrogant smirk. "Stefan Salvatore," He said in a deep English accent, "It's been a while." His gaze fell on me, "And who's this."

"Claudia Gilbert," Stefan answered before I could answer for myself. I held out my hand,

"It's nice to meet you Mr Mikaelson," He studied my face for a moment, before shaking.

"Claudia Gilbert..." He said, "A relation of Elena?"

I opened my mouth again but for a second time Stefan got there first, "Her cousin, and we need your help."

He raised his eyebrows, "I'm intrigued, come on in."

"So you're worried about a mark Silas left on Elena's cousin, and you want my help in working something out?" Klaus asked. We were sitting in the parlor, or morning room if you like. There was a giant rounded arched window looking out onto the beautiful grounds.

Without warning, Stefan took my marked wrist and held it up for their inspection. "Seems you've got yourself in a bit of a pickle. Who did this to you?" Klaus asked.

"An old friend of yours," Stefan answered for me, "A very very old friend of yours."

"Silas," HIs eyes widened, "I'd thought that that situation had been dealt with."

"Apparently not."

Klaus thought for a moment, then he got up from the armoire and began to pace, "I can see your predicament Stefan, but honestly, why should I help you? You've done nothing but lie to me, and foil all of my plans."

A smirk stretched across Stefan's face, "Don't pretend that Silas isn't a threat to you as much as he is to us. Plus, word has it that you're having some problems of your own. We can help with that."

Klaus' face twisted into a snarl, "How do you know about that?" He hissed.

"How about I tell you my source when you help me. You need someone to distract... who was it, ah yes Marcel. You need a decoy, Claudia can be that decoy."

My head snapped round to stare at Stefan, "What?"

They both ignored me as he continued, "She managed to send Silas reeling from his life mission to find his true love within the first ten minutes of her being returned from England."

Klaus stepped forward. He seemed to be studying my face, "I need you to make a very powerful, very dangerous man fall in love with you. D'you think you could do that?"

"Get in line," I replied, "Common opinion says you've come to the right girl. But I do need help sorting this obscure tattoo situation. D'you think you could do that?"

He broke into a dazzling smile, "I think you're the girl for the job. Let's assign bedrooms."

"Why don't the two of you go ahead," Stefan said, standing up, "There's an old friend of mine I wish to speak with in town."

The warm southern sun was just setting over the beautiful Mikaelson property. I turned and leant down to smell the lavender bushel. "There's been lavender growing here for just under three hundred years." I whirled round. He looked to be about thirty... probably. His accent was european... a mix of things... possibly. He was handsome, definitely. "I'm sorry I startled you, I didn't know we had company," he certainly had a mixed accent, "My brother tends to be spontaneous with house guests."

I swallowed, "I'm sorry for snooping around," I gestured about me, "Your home is beautiful."

He smiled, "Thank you. My name is Elijah, I'm Klaus' elder brother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Mikaelson, I'm Claudia Gilbert. My friend Stefan and I are here to help Your brother with something."

"Gilbert did you say? And you friend... Stefan Salvatore?"

I nodded, "Yes that's him. You probably knew my cousin Elena, or Jeremy."

He nodded, "Yes I do," He thought for a moment, "What does my brother want help with, if you don't mind my asking."

"Not at all. Actually, we came here willing to do anything. The truth is, we need help ourselves," I rolled up my sleeve and held it out to him, "There is a man, a monster who gave me this mark. His name is Silas, I ned to know what it is and how I can reverse it. Stefan suggested coming here."

Elijah examined my wrist, frowning a little, "Does it hurt at all?"

I shrugged, "Not since I was given it. That day is branded in my memory as this mark is branded on my body. I ought to be covered in cuts... burns, that's what it felt like," I shook my head and looked up into his face with an apologetic smile, "Memory is a funny thing, it can be so vivid... and yet read like a mere voice in the wind."

"I'm sorry for your pain Claudia, I hope to be of some help to you. But for now I think we ought to have some supper, it's getting late."

"No time for that now," Klaus was hurrying down the porch steps to meet us, "If we're to defeat marcel Claudia, we have to start right away. I suggest you change out of your travel clothes, we're going out."

"Certainly," I turned to Elijah and nodded, "Mr Mikaelson."

"So you really managed to... dissuade Silas from his life mission?" Klaus asked as we sat down at the bar, "What did you do, give him a mystic blow job?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I find that getting to know someone is a better way of infiltrating their thoughts, although I've no doubt oral sex is a fair alternative."

He smirked, "You're very amusing April."

"Why thank you, Mr Mikaelson."

"Mr Mikaelson," Came a voice from behind him, "What's this." We both swiveled on our seats at the same time. The guy was tall, buff with beautiful dark skin and handsome features. "Marcel," Came Klaus' reply. It sounded somewhat forced, "This is one of Rebecca's old friends from Mystic Falls, April young."

I smiled, "Nice to meet you. Will you join us for a drink, I think Mr Mikaelson here is sick of feminine company."

Marcel shat a dazzling smile at me, "Well that doesn't sound like my old friend at all, but I'll take you up on that offer." He sat down next to me as I turned to the bartender and asked for three shots of tequila. The bartender raised his eyebrows, "I'm going to need some ID miss."

I smiled back, "Then you and I are in the same predicament sir, you see I'm having a bit of an existential crisis so I wouldn't know where to start looking for my identification."

He looked utterly perplexed, so he began to fetch our drinks in stony silence. Marcel let out a laugh, "Very nicely done Miss Young."

"Please, call me April. I find that formal titles only suit those reaching their antiquity, like Mr MIkaelson here for instance."

"Wow, Klaus you must have your hands full with this one. I hope I don't get on your bad side, April."

I smiled, "Then don't."

"Astounding," Klaus cried as he shut the front door behind us, "Absolutely stunning. He's fallen for you hook line and bloody sinker, my darling you're a visionary."

I rubbed my eyes, "I'm a visionary who's a little drunk, I need to get to bed." I made for the stairs, and then an ear splitting ringing sounded. I reached up to grasp my head, but then the ringing was accompanied by a blinding pain in my wrists. I let out a cry which I could barely hear, whilst falling to the ground in agony. The pain was spreading, up my arms and into my torso, like my very soul was going up in flames. Through my watering eyes, I could make out Klaus kneeling beside me, lifting me up which caused yet more pain. I was thrashing about, but he had such a tight grip. And then... nothing, sweet nothingness.

Consciousness shot through me like a bolt of electricity. I sat up in bed and noticed that I wasn't alone. "You're awake, finally," Her voice was loud, clear and instructive. I knew almost instinctively that she was not one to mess with. She stood up from her position in the old arm chair by the fireplace, her blonde waves cascading down her back. "Sorry," I uttered, "But who are you?"

"Why I'm your best friend from Mystic Balls, Rebecca."

"Mr Mikaelson's sister, It's a pleasure to meet you. I can only apologize for my behavior last night, I was quite drunk."

She shook her head, "What happened to you wasn't because of alcohol, it was to do with that mark on your wrist."

"What did happen to me last night?"

She looked slightly pained, "I suppose you're lucky to not remember. You had a... a fit of pain. You passed out, Klaus brought you to bed."

"I should thank him," I hopped out of bed and moved to the door just as Stefan strolled through it, "Morning sunshine," He said with a smile.

"Where were you last night?" I asked, "We came back here and you were still out, and then this thing happened... a fit of pain."

"I'll leave the two of you to talk," Rebecca glided out.

"Were you out looking for leads on my mark? Did you find anything?"

"You need to rest," He replied, taking my hand and leading me to bed, "I need to head out, but I'll see you later."

"Where were you?" I demanded, grabbing a hold of his coat to stop him from going.

He turned back round, an irritatingly sympathetic smile on his face, "You went through a lot last night, it's understandable that you feel... stressed. You need rest." He pulled himself from my grasp and moved again. "Don't you fucking condescend to me Stefan," I shouted, "Tell me where you went last night."

I heard a small snarl escape his lips, "Don't push me Claudia. Now get back into bed."

"No," I snapped back.

"You're acting like a child," He took a few steps towards me, "Get back into bed now."

I stepped forward and shoved him roughly back, "No," I nearly screamed in his face.

He raised his left hand and I felt a sharp sting in my cheek as a sickening crack echoed through the room. "You will do as you're told Claudia I will make you feel so much pain that you'll be praying to lucifer himself for mercy."

His gaze was so threatening that I almost didn't recognize him. I was slightly shocked, but I shook myself as I saw him storm out. I ran out of the room and from the top of the stairs yelled, "I was in rehabilitation for months Stefan, I've felt things that you couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams. I relish the thought of you applying slight pressure on my wounds because at least then I'll remember never to trust you."

The door slammed, I was alone.

"He hit you?" Rebecca appeared next to me, arms folded.

"I provoked him," I replied with a sigh, "I have a tendency to do that."

"Stefan needs to remember that you're human. You can break."

I was in heaven, my first moment alone in what felt like weeks. I was lying down on the lawn, under the shade of a huge oak tree. I closed my eyes and murmured to myself, "Under the greenwood tree, who loves to lie with me and turn his merry note unto the sweet bird's throat."

"Rebecca told me that Stefan hit you." I opened my eyes, and squinting in the afternoon sun, could just make out the outline of Elijah. I pushed myself up into sitting, "Did she tell you that I provoked him?"

He smiled, and then did something completely unexpected of someone like him. He sat down, cross legged, across from me. "You were in rehabilitation?"

He looked so... sincere, so trustworthy. "Last year," I replied, "I like to pretend that it was because of stress... of my longing to meet my mother, but I know it was just for selfish reasons. My father had to travel a lot, mostly back to Mystic Falls, we were living in London at the time. I began to feel this, this nagging in my chest. This feeling, or lack of feeling. I don't know what it was, it was so peculiar. Nothing seemed solid, or worth anything. Until I found it. I first shot heroin at the age of seventeen. There was no gradual build up between the classes, I went straight for the strong stuff. And things seemed to go back to normal until one day when I'd run out of the stuff. I couldn't reach my supplier, I went on a wild rampage around north London," I let out a bitter chuckle, "By the time I'd given in and gone home, it was back. My helplessness. My void, my perpetual dissatisfaction with life. So I did what any melodramatic adolescent would do, I slashed my wrists with the first knife I could find. When I woke up, I was already in a rehabilitation centre for young people in Hampshire. It took three months to ween me off it. Three months of pain, of physical burning. On the outside I was quiet, but inside my soul was in turmoil, so much so that I had to scream. It was my own dystopian nightmare, but I was cured. On the day that I was discharged, my doctor drove me straight from rehab to a church. I went into my father's memorial completely ignorant of the situation. They kept a team of nurses outside the church to make sure I didn't try anything out of grief."

"Claudia... I'm so sorry."

I smiled up at him, "Don't say that. My life was utter shit, but now I know suffering so much so that I will never go back to that poison," I pulled out my cigarettes from my pocket and lit up, "But this, I can't live without."

"That'll kill you," Elijah said.

"Oh believe me, I've cheated death more than anyone should," I exhaled, "There go I, but for the grace of God." I held out the packet to him. He took one and we shared a smile.

"Do you believe in God?" Elijah asked, after I lit his cigarette.

"I'm too cowardly to accept that life is truly transient."

"Faith doesn't make you cowardly Claudia, it makes you strong."

I smiled, "You're probably old enough to tell me if Christ was as attractive as the pictures say."

He chuckled, "Don't be cheeky."

"How old are you?" I asked with a grin.

"You can hardly expect me to own to it," He leant back against the tree trunk, closed his eyes and murmured, "Here shell he see no enemy but winter and rough weather."

"I'll smoke to that," I said.

A little while later, I was sitting at the kitchen island whilst Rebecca was making some fruit smoothie behind me. I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, "Hello?"

"Claudia it's Klaus, I've found something that may be of help to you, I need you to meet me and Stefan at a bar in the quarter."

I couldn't help grinning, "Sure, I'll be right with you." I hopped off my stool and left Rebecca standing there looking pretty perplexed.

The bar was crowded, but I managed to navigate my way to the ladies. I examined my face in the mirror, covering the slightly pink patch on my right cheek with powder. I felt my phone buzzing again, "Hello Claudia it's me." Klaus stated.

"Where are you?" I asked, "We were supposed to meet ten minutes ago."

I could practically hear him frown down the phone, "What are you talking about?"

"You asked me to meet you at the Penn bar in the quarter... you said you'd found something with Stefan that could help me... we spoke on the phone not twenty minutes ago, is any of this ringing a bell?"

"Claudia, you need to get back to the house right now, there are some things we need to discuss, but we can do that when you're safe." The line went dead.

I looked around me, feeling my pulse begin to rise in panic. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and hurried out of the bathroom. The bar was still buzzing, the patrons all in their little bubbles, unaware of what dangers lurked in their corners. I had no idea what to look out for, but if Klaus was worried, then I knew I definitely should've been too. So I looked out for anything, anything out of the ordinary. I hurried down the busy streets, not running so as to remain inconspicuous, but still fast enough to break into a slight sweat. And then I felt it, a dull thudding in my wrist, spreading up my arm like a malignant tumor reaching every last part of me. I could feel myself growing dizzy and drowsy, as if drugged.

hurrying became regular walking, walking became stumbling. I could tell I was starting to draw attention to myself, I heard a few people call out, "Hey, are you okay?" I ignored them, that was until I fell into a pair of arms. "You're safe now," A woman's voice said.

For the second time in two days I woke up with no idea of my whereabouts or how I'd reached it. for the second time in two days I was brought back to consciousness by a sickening jolt, as though dragged from under water. Unlike the first however, in this instance, I couldn't move. My hands and ankles were secured by something. I opened my eyes, it wasn't a great light, just a few artistically placed candles. But I could make out that I was lying on a wooden platform, or table. My hands and ankles were secured by rope to four different poles and they weren't budging any time soon. "There now, you're awake," a familiar female voice said. There was no face to match the voice. "Where are you?" I demanded, desperately, "Show yourself."

"Hush now dear, that's all the poison talking. You're full of his poison and we need to bleed it out. Try to relax Claudia, this is going to be a lengthy process." And then I felt the worst pain of my life.


	5. Chapter 5

It was Hell. Pain was seeping out of every pore, with every breath it felt as though I was inhaling pure poison. After what seemed like an age, the pounding in my ears began to dim. I could just make out my rasping breaths, but nothing else. Was I alone? "Hello!" I called out, my throat was as dry as stone, it was agony. I appeared to be alone, lying down on something hard. The lighting was dim, a few candles, but the room was stiflingly hot. I found that my wrists and ankles were no longer tied. With a lot of effort, and exquisite pain, I hauled myself up and onto my feet. The room was simple, with nothing else in it but my wooden table, a fireplace and a door. But there was something odd in that room. Although I was alone, and I was definitely alone, there was a certain essence of someone else having been there. My suspicions were validated when I took a better look at the walls and floor. I'd initially thought that they were of a dark reddy brown color, how wrong I was. Blood clouded every inch, every corner, and blood was my only companion.

I located the door, rushed towards it and much to my surprise, found it open. Cool evening air hit me like a bullet to the brain, I stumbled out and found myself once again caught in a lively crowd. I tried to sink into it, and find my pace. I'd no such luck. I tripped and, waiting for the ground to hit, found myself scooped up into strong arms. "April," I heard the soothing deep voice, "April, what's wrong?"

I looked up into beautiful dark eyes, "I don't know," I whispered, "I was taken, kidnapped by a woman... a witch, I think she was. She tied me down, and it was painful, so painful. And I woke up to blood, there was blood everywhere, but I was alone." That took up so much of my conserved energy, that I felt my head begin to droop. I was lifted up, bridal style, and I just heard him say, "You're safe now, I'll take you somewhere safe."

Somewhere safe turned out to be a bedroom, a large, comfortable, nicely furnished bedroom. And I'd no idea who's it was. I woke up feeling fresh, stronger than I'd felt in months. I jumped out of bed and slipped back into my jeans, which were conveniently hanging off the back of an armchair. The room lead onto a large open landing/ balcony, overlooking a beautiful courtyard. It reminded me of a small town I'd visited once in the north of Spain, called Salamanca. I studied my surroundings once more, then headed down the stone steps, into the courtyard. "Hey, hey Miss please wait." I turned to see a pretty pale girl with spiky blonde hair hurrying over. As she neared me, I noticed her startling green eyes and I couldn't help myself from wondering whether she was human or vampire, friend or foe. "Hello," I said, with a smile.

"You're Marcel's guest?" She asked.

I nodded, "My name's April Young, I'm a friend of one of Marcel's old friends, can I help you?"

She nodded, "That's fine, Marcel just likes to know who stays and who goes, you know?"

I wanted to roll my eyes at that last bit, but I refrained, "Yes, of course I understand. Please do thank him for me, and apologize for my hasty departure, I just have a few errands to run."

"Certainly MIss Young, I'll tell him."

I slipped out onto the main road, looking around for any signs of abnormality. Finding none, I fell into a careful stride and made it down the road. I felt my phone vibrating in my jeans pocket. 'Fucking stupid woman, to've taken me but left me my phone,' I thought to myself as I answered it. "Hello," I sighed down the phone.

"Where've you been?" Demanded Klaus, "We've all been looking for you."

I swallowed, "I know, I know. After we spoke last night I was taken by a witch. Marcel saved me, now I'm on my way back to your place."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Yes well, everything's not fine here. Haley's missing, she was taken last night."

"And you think it was Marcel?" I asked.

"Who else could it be?" He snapped down the phone, "I have to ask, and I know he probably compelled you, did you see anything?"

"I wasn't compelled, and I didn't see anything," I insisted, "Mr Mikaelson, don't let's be rash about this, if you barge into Marcel's guns blazing, he'll know something's up and he'll be one step closer to finding out just what it is that you're up to."

"Haley is carrying my child, I need to do what it takes-"

"-What convinces you that outing yourself is all that it takes?" I asked, "You need to step back and think, that's what'll be most helpful to Haley and your child at the moment."

"What do you suggest?"

"Stealth," I replied, "Does Haley have a phone?"

"Yes, she does."

"Good, wait for me at home, I'll be there any second."

"What are you doing?" Klaus asked me, hovering in the office doorway.

"I was taught hacking and tracking when I was in rehab," I replied, "We would hack into the hospital's system so as to find our Doctors' records. I became somewhat of a natural."

I studied the computer screen for a moment, "There," I pointed to the screen, "There is an old, slightly shitty but nevertheless existing wifi hotspot, probably a residential one. Anyway, Haley's smartphone has automatically connected to it. She's in the Bayou."

I turned to see Klaus' stunned face. "Over a thousand years old and you don't understand technology, shameful."

He rolled his eyes, "Right, I'm going to go and fetch her, you stay here." He moved to go, and I felt the panic rise in my chest, "Please Mr MIkaelson, I'm- I"m scared. I din't know what Silas did to me, or that witch, but it's not right. You have to save Haley, but are either Elijah or Rebecca around?"

He studied my face, "No, neither, but let me assure you that this house is unknown to all but it's inhabitants."

I paced the kitchen's marble floor. Klaus had been gone for three hours, I'd been alone for three hours. I paused my pacing to take a look at my wrist. The tattoo was still there, I began pacing again. I strained my memory back to the previous night. All I had were broken images and brief flashes of extraordinary pain. "Where have you been?" The voice dragged knives down my back. I turned. What was he doing there, he'd doe this to me. "Silas," I stated, "What do you want?"

He frowned slightly, "And I thought I'd perfected 'Stefan Salvatore'?"

And slowly, as if through treacle, the penny dropped. "It was you all along," I said in an accusatory tone, "You brought me here, you tricked everybody," I couldn't help letting out a little laugh, "You're brilliant, but brilliance comes with a price and one day, maybe not soon, but one day there will come a person who is more brilliant than you, and you will burn Silas. You'll pay for every evil you've inflicted on those you would harm."

He smiled, "And that's why I have you." His tone was bright, light but with a definite edge.

"What do you mean?"

"That pretty little mark I gave you, we're now linked... lives interwoven... fates intertwined. You're highly resourceful, intelligent not to mention easy on the eyes. With me focussed on

sorting my personal life, I've neglected my professional life. There are certain loose ends I've to clear up, think of yourself as my supernatural secretary. You've absorbed a few of my special tricks, you'll do as I say, once I die I'll still be able to visit you, oh and this is the cherry on top of an otherwise perfect cake, you're now as immortal as I once was."

"So I'm your bit on the other side?" I spat at him.

He smirked, "And that is why I chose you, you're funny."

"Consider this my official decline to your generous offer," I shot back sarcastically.

He looked slightly perplexed, clasping his hands together, he said, "Oh no, it wasn't an offer, it wasn't a question. You my dear do not have a say in the matter."

I thought for a moment, this could be our one chance to achieve what we'd set out in wanting to achieve. After all, this had been our original plan, just with a few... amendments.

"And what do I get in return?" I asked.

He raised his eyebrows, he'd not been expecting that. "What do you mean?"

"It's a perfectly simple question. An even simpler concept; I give you something, you give me something in return. In essence, the fundamental principals of capitalism."

He smirked, "How about, in return for doing me this great favor, I don't burn you to death."

"Yes but that's more of a perk than a reward. I want a conventional reward."

"Again, I'm confused as to the meaning of what you're asking."

I sighed, "You say you'll refrain from burning me to death, in a sense, granting me life... which I already have. You can't give me something I already have. Instead, I want something in return for the convention of my doing you a great favor out of the good graces of my own heart."

He studied my face, taking small steps toward me as he did, but I did not step down. He was millimeters from me, not looking into my eyes, rather taking in every inch of my face, my cheeks, my hair, my lips. "What would you have me do?" He asked dangerously quietly. I swallowed, "Save Bonnie. It's all I ask, save Bonnie and I'm perpetually yours to do with as you please."

A light smile crossed his mouth, "I like the sound of that... but isn't it enough that I keep you safe for the rest of time? Your second name alone is enough to bring factions of supernatural beings chasing you down."

I considered this. He had a point, but I wouldn't let go of this prime opportunity to save Bonnie. I nodded, "You're right, and I would love it if you were to help... keep me safe. But Bonnie's renaissance is more important to me, and indeed any of my friends at the moment."

"Okay then," He replied, "I promise to raise Bonnie from the dead, and take care of you as long as you shall live."

"In that case, we have a deal."

"Good," He smiled, "Now, let's sample the gifts my powers have bought me." And suddenly I was on the floor. He was on top of me, pulling at my clothes, violently smothering my neck with painful kisses. "Please," I gasped, "Please Silas, stop."

but my pleas fell on deaf ears. He'd ripped off my clothes, and as quick as lightning was thrusting into me. I attempted to silence my screams, it was painful as hell. It ended as quickly as it had begun. Silas let out a groan of ecstasy, stood up and dressed himself. He grinned at me, "To the rest of eternity." And he was gone.

I couldn't believe I'd not seen it. I'd not seen it for the very beginning. Every look, every touch, every cleverly worded innuendo... in retrospect it'd been pretty bloody obvious from the very beginning. I picked myself off the floor and rearranged my clothes, not wanting to think about what he'd done to me ever again. I had to leave. I hurried upstairs and gathered the few things I'd brought with me to New Orleans. I was met with barriers on the stairs in the form of Klaus' brother Elijah. "Where are you going?" He asked.

I swallowed. Act Claudia, it's all you can do. "I realize it's not exactly... convenient, but my family need me back at home. Your brother has been a very gracious host, please do pass on my thanks and regret respectively, and promise him that I won't forget our agreement for the rest of eternity."

Elijah raised his eyebrows, "I'll do that. Claudia, is everything okay with you?"

I smiled, hiding any and all signs of lying, "Everything's fine, thank you. I'm just a little reluctant to be leaving before Mr Mikaelson succeeds."

"You do know that you can call him Klaus, he doesn't mind. In fact, I'm sure he was a little thrown at your addressing him so formally. He's not used to it."

_Why do you think I did it? I had the two of you sussed from the very beginning. _I allowed a small smirk to play across my lips, "Believe me, Mr Mikaelson, that wasn't my intention."

He studied my face for a moment, and chuckled slightly, "If I'm not mistaken Miss Claudia, you'll be running the country some day."

I shrugged, "I'd settle for keeping my family out of harms way. I've enjoyed meeting you Elijah, I do hope we'll meet again soon." I held out my hand, he took it, leaned in and placed a kiss on my left cheek. "I'll make sure we do."

Coming home after the enormity of the time I'd spent away was surreal. Like I was coming back to a place I'd once known, but was no longer mine. Or no longer held a connection with me. I stepped through the front door to find a perfectly idyllic scene awaiting me. Elena and Damon were curled up on one of the sofas reading together, Jeremy on the opposite sofa, messing around on his phone. They all looked up. "Hey," Elena smiled brightly, "How was the road trip?"

Wait, what? Had I not been missing for days? Taken under false pretenses, surely Stefan had said something. Where was Stefan? I swallowed, "Very... revitalising. I'll just go and unpack." In my room I let out a breath I'd not realised I'd been holding. "Claudia." I jumped and whipped round. It was Stefan, real Stefan with a very real look of concern on his face. I'd the instinct to go and hug him, but I couldn't shake the wandering hands from my memory. The painful thrusts, my muffled pleas. They weren't his hands, and yet in a curious way they were. In likeness anyway. "Where've you been?I asked, "Since I've been away?"

He sighed slightly, "I've been staying with a witch named Tessa."

"The psycho?"

He nodded, "Silas knocked me out, I woke up at her place and she wouldn't let me go. Tell me what happened."

I opened my mouth to speak, but then felt a lurching pain from my stomach and I rushed into the bathroom and fell down by the side of the toilet.


	6. Chapter 6

_Far from the Madding Crowd_

It had been a fortnight, and still nothing. Not word, or even an ambiguous sign. Not that I was complaining, I never wanted to see the mystical bastard again, but this lack of communication left me feeling uneasy. Like the quiet before the giant shit storm. I groaned in bed, rolling over onto my stomach. I'd been getting painful stomach aches, but shrugged it off assuming it was because that time of the month had come late. I felt it again, falling out of bed to vomit for the fiftieth time that week. PTSD was a real bitch. I cleaned myself up, threw on a dressing gown and made my way downstairs. "Morning sleepy head," Elena said, irritatingly perkily, from the breakfast bar. I nodded in acknowledgement and got the milk from the fridge. "Is this in date?" I asked.

"I don't know... it's the first today."

"Holy fuck," I snapped, it was the first day of December... I'd missed my period... which meant that all the vomiting and the crankiness were to do with... Oh My Fucking God. "What's wrong?" Elena asked, suddenly concerned.

I shook my head, "No... nothing at all, I'm fine, I just... lost track of time is all," I Moved towards the door, "I'm going to head out for a while."

I strode deeper and deeper into the forest, she had to be there somewhere. Stefan said he'd stayed with her, or she'd forced him to stay. Forced a vampire to stay within the confines of a small cabin, she had to be powerful. Plus, she had history with Silas. I looked around for a moment and there it was, up ahead as if by magic... hahaha. Gingerly I made my way up to the door, preparing to knock but finding it swinging slowly open. I took a step in, and then another. It looked like a Ralph Lauren winter catalogue, all warm fires and deep colored throws. "You're Claudia, Elena's cousin." I jumped and whipped round. For an oldie, she certainly looked good. Couldn't've been older than 25 to the untrained eye. "Yes, I am," I replied, "I'm so sorry to barge in, It's just an emergency."

She nodded, "I know, I can sense it. You're pregnant, and it's Silas'."

"But how can you know?" I asked, "I'm no more than a week or so along, plus I've not told anyone that Silas and I even... were together."

She shook her head with a small smile, "But you weren't 'together', he raped you."

It took all I had not to gawp at her, "How... how do you know that?"

"Oh darling, it's written all over your face. Plus, consensual isn't exactly Silas' style. So, you want one of two things; either you need help with 'PTSD', or you want help getting rid of your little problem. So which is it to be?"

I swallowed, "There's no PTSD... I came here with such a clear goal, but I can't help but wonder if it's completely moral to... get rid of it."

She raised an eyebrow, "I could tell that you're different right from the moment you came into town. Your sister wouldn't dream of aborting anything, even a product of rape and the child of a monster. But you think deeper into things, you realize the importance of considering all consequences. That 'baby', if you can call it that is doomed no matter what you choose to do. Silas is too paranoid to let it live and even if he weren't to kill it on deliverance, there are so many creatures who would. Get rid of it, it won't be around to remind you of what it's father did, it won't have to grow up knowing what it's father did and it won't have to live what short life it can in fear of being murdered."

I knew she was right. I didn't want to resent my 'child'. I nodded, "Okay. What can I do?"

She moved towards me, resting both of her palms flat against my stomach, "You'll feel a slight pinch," She said, before uttering inaudible incantations under her breath. Once she'd stopped, I asked, "That's it?"

"That is it. You've made the right choice. You can go now."

I returned home after possibly the most surreal moment of my life. The house, once again was in uproar. Apparently Silas had returned from his unexpected sabbatical rather unexpectedly, and he'd brought with him a whole world of horrors as usual. Elena was sitting silent as death on the sofa whilst Damon and Stefan embarked in a stare off with the devil. They all looked up as I entered. "Claudia darling, it's been too long," Silas drawled, he strode over and before I could stop him, placed a kiss on my right cheek.

I turned to the rest of the room, "A simple warning text would have sufficed."

"We were a little busy," Damon replied, "Dealing with the second coming of Lucifer."

"Lucifer never left," Silas and I said at the same time. I suddenly felt very unclean. A short, uneasy pause followed. To hurry up the whole thing, I turned to Silas and asked, "What can we do for you?"

"I'm glad you asked," He replied, "I have a plan to save your friend Bonnie, and to reunite me with my one true love." He looked around expectantly.

"Do go on," I said in a sardonic tone, eyebrows raised.

"Tessa."

"Do elaborate."

"She's a witch, she hates me- but she rather fancies Stefan, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, I suggest we use her love for Stefan to get Bonnie back, and whilst she's not looking, I slip quietly out the back door into the afterlife."

Damon looked around, firstly at Elena, then at Stefan and lastly at me. "It sounds... feasible, but won't she suspect something if Stefan's suddenly interested?"

A look of shocked glee spread across his face as he turned to me, "I can't imagine what it must be in their confused little minds, so simple, so boring. Claudia darling, Stefan, we really ought to clue them up oughtn't we? Stefan and Tessa are beyond... conventional friendship, that's for sure."

I couldn't meet anyone's eyes, not least of all Stefan's. "There's no we Silas, this has nothing to do with me. IN fact, I think I'm going to go upstairs and begin packing."

"Packing?" Damon, Elena and Stefan asked at the same time.

I nodded, "Yes, my term starts up again in a week, and there are some errands I've to run in London so I really should be off tomorrow."

"That's insane," Elena snapped, finally standing up, "You can't leave, not now."

"Believe me, this is no easy feat, but my presence here is causing nothing but problems. You don't need me, none of you do. I was a fool to come home after all this time. You have-" I could hear my voice cracking, "You have this life Elena, built up around you and I just feel like I'm infiltrating. I don't belong here, and I'm sorry for it."

I turned, and as my left foot hit the first step, Silas said, "You don't have to lie to protect me, Claudia."

That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. That opened the proverbial floodgates and unleashed a whole world of rage and hatred that I'd been storing up for days. "How dare you insinuate that I would ever do anything to help you. I should sooner lie dead at your feet than ever ever protect you."

"Careful," He hissed at me, stepping slightly closer, "Before you say something you might regret."

"Oh God the time for discretion has long since passed. I could tell you the exact moment it left, but I'm sure that you already know. You promised me that you'd protect me. If I were to give you everything, you would protect me," I no longer cared who was listening, who'd find out. I only cared for justice, "But you broke your promise and broke my trust and you defiled me in every way possible. You've ruined my friendship with Stefan and I'm sure you knew that, after what you did, I could barely look him in the face. You hurt me and now I exert my right to leave you as solitary as death, which is more merciful than you deserve."

"What are you talking about?" Elena cried, as Damon demanded,

"What the fuck is going on?" BUt neither Silas nor I heard them. I was glaring at him, he looking back at me with this intense calm. "You speak of mercy as if it were a human right," He said, ever so smoothly.

"Mercy is as mercy does," I snapped back, "You get as much as you give, by that I swear."

"That's a rather harsh philosophy."

"No harsher than those who exercise it. You can go and die and live out all of eternity with whichever unfortunate female you deem to love. I can't live to be your puppet. There go I but by the grace of God, only in this case, God is you. And that thought frightens me."

"I thought you weren't frightened of anything."

"Everyone is frightened of something. Even you, why else would you've cursed me if not to maintain your posthumous legacy. You're afraid of irrelevance. The irony is exquisite, following your deepest desires will only secure your gravest fears."

After a moment of silence, he said, "That is why I chose you. You could never be irrelevant. You're too beautiful, too clever for irrelevance."

"You mistake beauty and intelligence for merit. Such things, if I possess them or not, will not make me a person above or beyond irrelevance."

He opened his mouth to speak, but what interrupted by the front door bursting open. Klaus stood there, fuming. "You," He pointed at me, "I want a word with you."

_NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR_

_HI gang, _

_this is just to say thank you to all of the favorites, follows and reviews this story had received. I can't tell you how grateful I am, although I do ask of you just one thing; as fond as I am for this story, I can't come up with a decent progression for it. So I ask you to please inbox me with any ideas or suggestions you may have. Thank you again._

_Much love,_

_Pussyriot. _


	7. Chapter 7

_The King and I_

"Hold on a moment," Elena said, "You want to talk to Claudia? It's been months, months since you've been here, and you want to talk to her?" She looked flabbergasted, beckoning to me as if I were a fair attraction. "Jealous love?" Klaus asked, eyebrows raised. Within the space of about three seconds he'd gone from inane to disconcertingly calm and composed. The perks of being a vampire I supposed. "No," Damon finally spoke up, "No, I don't believe this. There has to be an ulterior motive. Claudia doesn't know you like the rest of us, you're trying to use her ignorance to get to Elena."

"I like to think that I'm slightly more intelligent than that," I snapped. I let out a frustrated sigh, it had been a long couple of weeks and I was just starting to feel the weight on my shoulders. I needed a holiday, preferably somewhere pretty, quiet and full of booze. "Mr Mikaelson, I am sure that everybody here would love an explanation for all of this, for our somewhat surprising acquaintance. So, we can either explain everything and then conspire, or we can conspire and then Explain everything. That's up to you."

He took a look around the room, examining each face, a slow smile stretching about his. "I think the latter, don't you. The tension here is exhilarating and I've no doubt that their growing impatience will prove... delicious."

I fought a smile. "I think you're right. Well then, you're paying for lunch."

"No you can't leave with him!" Elena cried, "He's using you to kill us all."

"Elena," I shouted, spinning round, "Do you think that I'd willfully walk into a death trap? I've no doubt that Mr Mikaelson's feelings towards you and everyone here are less than personable. But don't you think complying with his wishes will improve Salvatore-Gilbert/ Mikaelson relations dramatically? A little diplomacy never hurt anyone. Do try to use your imagination."

"Marcel knows that you plan to overthrow him," I repeated, "And he wants to use Sabrina the teenage witch to... nip said plans in the bud."

Klaus nodded across the booth. He'd driven me just out of Mystic Falls to a tiny obscure diner that went by the rather original name of just 'Diner'. At that point, I appreciated the minimalism. "And what do you want me to do about this?"

"Anything you can," He replied, "I know that he was taken with you, it was obvious in his face. You don't know a person for over three hundred years and not grow to recognize their habits and quirks," he paused for a moment, staring down at his white hands gripping the coffee mug tightly, "I want you to come back to New Orleans with me and convince him... persuade him to hold off the attack. My kingdom is crumbling around me."

The offer seemed more attractive than staying in Mystic Falls to act as Silas' plaything. "Here's what we'll do," I began, "I will accompany you back to New Orleans. You'll hold a party... a ball for Marcel and his whole court, as it were, and there you'll calmly, without butchery or ostentation, explain to him that you're older than him, stronger and more worthy of the title king. If he puts up a fight, I'm sure that you can... fight harder. Obviously without butchery... or ostentation." I smiled at this.

The corners of his lips pricked up, "I understand everyone's fascination with you. Such intelligence and cunning don't often come in such... delectable packages."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but refrained. "Flattery Mr Mikaelson is unnecessary. You have my assistance."

He raised his eyebrows, "It wasn't flattery for flattery's sake. I was merely being genuine. Over these past few years I've come to know your family, and all it's friends rather well. I'd thought that the Gilberts were nothing but simpering, characterless fools but I see that there is but one exception; you."

I didn't know quite what to make of this. I'd been paid compliments before, most women under the sun had, at one point or another. But this was different. From someone as powerful as Klaus... it was hard to tell if it were genuine or just a method of self progression. He stood up, "I'm pleased with your plan. We'll go tomorrow, you'll stay at my Mystic Falls home tonight. Go home, try to explain to your family, collect any belongings you'll need and be back there for dinner. We can go over any loose ends then."

"You can't. I won't allow it." I stared at Damon in disbelief. They were all waiting for me when I got home. Even Caroline, whom I'd not seen in years. It was almost as an intervention in purpose. "You would obstruct me from exercising my democratic human rights," I asked, dangerously smoothly, "Has your... power really gone to your head, or do my ears deceive me?"

"Please Claudia, we only want what's in your interest," Elena said, her tone pleading, her eyes infuriatingly soulful. "Surely it's in my interest for you to trust my better judgement. Anything else would be patronizing, dictating my actions as though I were your property. I am not your property."

"Don't be so melodramatic," Stefan snapped, "This is simple Claudia, not profound, poetic. It's prosaic. If you go, you'll surely die, if you stay-"

"I'll live in solitude, dying every day a thousand deaths by this curse put upon me by-" I had to stop myself before I gave too much away. Yet I couldn't tear my eyes away from Stefan's steely gaze. The same look worn many times by Silas, and it was always impossible to tell what lived behind the identical eyes. "Upon you by who?" He asked, not blinking, not flinching... never changing. His strength to me was unparalleled. "By God," I replied instantly, "My chronic dissatisfaction with idleness... torpid living." I spat out these last few words, "My helping Klaus will secure your safety. He has assured me that he will not harm any of you for as long as you all shall live, as it were."

His gaze softened somewhat, he had sympathy for my plight. He was gallant, he would always act if circumstance required it. "Then let me come with you," He said.

I shook my head, "I must go alone. I'll be back within the week, I promise."

"But when-" He stepped forward, and then stopped. Remembering himself and his circumstance. I knew what he was referring to. This build up, this promise of something more than friendship. Silas had complicated that, I wanted to get back to where we were, but every time I looked into Stefan's eyes, I saw only Silas. "When what?" Damon asked.

"Yeah..." Added Caroline, "Are we missing something?"

I swallowed, finally looking away from Stefan, "Nothing at all. Now I am expected at supper. I'm sure one of you may accompany me there, this evening."

"So tell me Stefan," Klaus said, putting down his wine glass, "How is Elena getting along with Damon?" We were sitting at a largeish table. Me at the head, the two men at each side facing one another.

"Now, now," I said hastily, "Let's not ruin this evening with banalities."

"Well then," Klaus leant back, a smile on his face, "Well then fair Claudia, tell us, what may we discuss."

I thought for a moment, "Tell me about all the places you've seen. I should love to hear about beauty and culture and history. All that makes the world great, and all that makes it abominable."

"My my Stefan. Isn't her thirst for knowledge admirable?"

"Perhaps," Stefan finally spoke up, "But I've found curiosity to be a kind word for stupidity."

I looked at Stefan, his beauty magnified in dancing candle light. "You would call me stupid Stefan?" I asked lightly, almost teasingly, "That's not very kind."

"I'm afraid kindness doesn't seem to get the message across as you're making the biggest mistake of your life by being incomparably stupid."

"He doesn't trust me," Klaus explained.

"Forgive me Mr Mikaelson, but I don't blame him."

He smiled again, "Do you trust me Claudia?"

"But of course, as much as one can. But what if I was not made a trusting person, and in fact I cannot trust at all. Not anyone, not even those closest to me."

"You're mocking me," He shot back jokingly.

"By no means, perhaps you should learn to trust Mr Mikaelson."

He threw his head back and laughed, "You are quite something Claudia. After you've finished university, I'll show you all the things I've seen."

"After Claudia's fulfilled her promise, she'll go home and live a full and happy life out of harm," Stefan snapped.

Klaus looked from him to me carefully. "I see you've not told him."

"Not told me what?"

Holy God in heaven. "Claudia's fallen to a curse of sorts. At the hand of Silas himself she's now his immortal slave, even after his death."

His face remained stunned, but his hands curled into fists around his cutlery. "And that's what he meant. That's why he's ruined our friendship, our relationship... My God!" He stood up, throwing his glass to the floor, "You didn't tell me. How could you not tell me?"

I leant back and smiled, "Why so that you could find out in such a pleasant way as this."

He stared at me, hurt in his beautiful eyes, chest heaving. "Are you so heartless?"

"It would appear so," I replied, my tone hardening, "I'm sorry of that shocks you, but you had no claim over my heart."

"It belongs to him," Stefan hissed, "To Silas."

"It belongs to no one," I stood up, "I am my own mistress and never again will I allow myself to be controlled, to be violated by any man. Oh that I were a man, I would eat the hearts of men-"

"-You already do!" He was shouting now, "This love consumes me, intoxicates me poisons me. And I am addicted, but I see that I am one in a sea of men that would all say the same."

"You needn't remind me of the audacity of men Stefan. They all think they have claims on women's hearts with out any inkling of selflessness. They take and take and take until there is nothing left, nothing but the shadow of a woman who once was alive and beautiful.

And he blames her for this emptiness that he inflicted."

He studied me. As if searching for my story as though it were etched upon my face. "I hope you go with Klaus," He hissed, "And I hope that you never come back. I hope you die and you rid the world of your poison."

It wasn't an easy journey to New Orleans. Klaus' private plane seemed empty with just the two of us and his pilot. He knew not to try to talk of the previous nights events, or indeed to talk at all. Stefan's words rang in ears, reigning war over my thoughts. I didn't mean to hurt him, my words were all for Silas. In my haste to let the world know of my independence, I'd

broken a bond I'd depended on so heavily without realizing it. "Am I to be April, or Claudia tonight?" I asked.

Klaus then did something totally unexpected. He reached across and touched my hand, "You Can be whomever you want this evening. I only ask that you give me your opinion and your advice. Use this evening to relax for once. I won't highlight our association if you don't wish it."

I nodded, "Thank you. I-" I had to stop. An agonizing burning had ignited in my lower stomach. I gripped it, letting out a pained gasp. "What's wrong?" Klaus asked, rushing forward to grip my shoulder. "My stomach hurts like nothing I've ever felt," I hissed.

He leant forward and picked me up bridal style. "I'm taking you to the bathroom. Claudia, you're having a miscarriage."

I woke up hours later in my room in the New Orleans plantation. I felt no pain, I felt lighter somehow, as if a great weight had lifted from my shoulders. The french windows were open allowing the light curtains to blow in the warm afternoon breeze. I hopped out of bed to find a beautiful poison ivy colored dress hanging in a carrier from the edge of the guilt wardrobe. _This can be any character's costume. _Read the note attached. I smiled in spite of myself and my condition, and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the evening's festivities.

It was a marvelous occasion. The whole of Klaus' estate was beautifully lit and filled with beautifully dressed guests. My dress was floor length and of thinnest satin. It was backless with thin straps and a plunging neckline. I allowed my hair to fall loose and wore minimal makeup. I wanted to appear as a blank canvas to anyone who would look upon me. I did receive looks from guests. Some friendly, some challenging and some filled with lust for my body and my blood. But I ignored them all, wandering through the party in search of life. I spotted Klaus and Marcel speaking in the corner and quickly turned away. Something caught my eye. In the far corner, standing alone was a man who looked quite alone in the crowded room. Exactly as I felt. I moved with ease towards him and he caught my eye. "Hello," He said, his bright blue eyes were soulful such that I felt a stirring within me. His dark suit matched his dark brown hair well, he looked handsome. "Hello," I replied, "How are you?"

"I'm well thank you," He studied my face, "I don't think we've ever met. I would remember this face."

"My name's Claudia."

"Claudia...?"

"Just Claudia."

"No second name?"

"I don't have a family, so I've no need of a second name."

"I'm sorry," He said, "I know what it's like, being alone that is."

"Then I am sorry too. But let's not talk of solitude. What's your name?"

"Thierry Vanchure. It's a pleasure to meet you Claudia."

"The pleasure is mine Thierry. Will you dance?"

A smile crossed his handsome face, "I would love nothing more."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Intolerable Cruelty**_

"Are you a friend of Klaus'?" Thierry asked me as we walked out onto the moonlit porch. I thought for a moment, "I suppose so. More of an acquaintance. He asked me to help him plan this party."

He smiled slightly, leaning against a large rounded pillar, "Well then congratulations, it's a stunning party."

I couldn't help smiling, truth be told I'd no hand at all in the evening's planning, but it felt good to just be a civilian... a nobody. "And what about you?" I asked, "How do you know our illustrious host?"

"I don't really. I'm a friend of Marcel's."

I raised my eyebrows, "Yes I've heard of him. Is he as good a king as everyone says?"

I expected him to gush, and roll into a heart warming speech about brotherhood and companionship, but much to my surprise, he faltered. A dark look crossed his handsome features, "He's what any leader could be..."

"but..."

"But not what any leader should be."

I thought for a moment, "Do you need to talk? I know we've just met, but sometimes it's easier to vent to strangers."

"He... Marcel he instructed an attack which led to the slaughter of the love of my life."

"My God," I uttered, "Thierry, I'm so sorry."

He seemed to shake himself out of his silent mourning and asked with a smile, "So, do you want to go to a real party?"

I opened my mouth, but seeing Klaus a little way off signaling me, I said, "Meet me back here in half an hour."

To this he smiled and nodded, so I hurried past him.

"What is it?" I muttered as soon as I reached Klaus.

"Marcel is hesitant, skeptical of my sincerity." He replied, "Why were you talking to Thierry Vanchure?"

I shrugged, "Just chatting at a party, he seems nice. Where's Marcel?"

"Upstairs, my study."

"Right then, after you."

I found myself irritated as I stepped over the threshold of Klaus' study. It was warm, due to the huge fireplace which threw an intimate glow over the whole room. Marcel was sitting in a leather armchair next to the fireplace holding a glass of whiskey. He looked up as I entered, a slow knowing smile crossing his handsome face. "My my, April Young, I was wandering when I'd see you next."

"Well then I suggest you put your mind to rest as we've got some things to discuss." I replied. Klaus took the armchair directly opposite Marcel and I the one next to Klaus. "So you've trouble understanding what Klaus has to say." I stated.

"That's an interesting way of looking at things April," Marcel replied, "Tell me, what does your friend Rebecca think of your allegiance to Klaus?"

"That was a transparent diversion."

"And so was that."

"Since neither of us seems willing to indulge in idle chit chat, I think it prudent we get on with the task at hand," I paused, "Klaus is here to negotiate his comeback to his rightful throne, you, who've been acting as uninvited steward for the past however many years, seem to have objections. Were this in a court of law, you wouldn't have a leg to stand on."

"As immortals we work outside of the law sweetheart," Marcel replied, "This isn't a court of law."

"Indeed," I said, "So I suggest we stick to Darwin's law of nature, survival of the fittest. What do you say to that?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"It's simple really, animalistic as it were. Klaus is far older and stronger than any of you're guys put together. Read between the lines."

"I have run this kingdom successfully. I've taken care of my people and everyone else. I've maintained a prosperous tourist industry and peacefully coexisted along side the witches and the humans."

"Are you sure?" I asked, "Think, really think hard about what you've just said. Peaceful coexistence with the witches? You have happy subjects, you're a fair and thoughtful leader? I don't think you're being entirely honest about your more recent actions. I can think of a few who wouldn't agree with you."

He chuckled slightly and said, "I see you've been speaking with Thierry, how pleasant."

"It doesn't matter who I've been speaking to, the point is there are some here who don't like your leadership."

"Thierry is only giving his side. He committed an abominable crime, he killed a vampire."

"Oh Abominable," I said in mock horror, "Tell me, how many people do you the late vampire had killed? And, how many have you killed?" He tried to interrupt, but I cut him off, "You're entire court is made up of predators, and you punish one of them for being just that? Not to mention his girlfriend."

"You can't expect me to just step down, give up all I have after everything I've done!" He snapped. "What do you expect?" Klaus asked.

"No," I said hurriedly, "No Marcel, that would be insane. What Mr Mikaelson proposes is that, just for the first leg or so, is a coalition of sorts. Naturally, Klaus would be sovereign, but you'd act as right hand, show him the ropes, ease him into it."

I could see Klaus stirring, so I shot him a look as if to say 'We'll talk later'. "If you don't accept this, our final offer, be prepared for war."

Marcel scoffed, "Consider this my rejection."

I sighed and then stood up, "Then let the streets run with the blood of your friends until your arrogance crumbles around you." I stood up, "Good evening gentlemen."

I made it to the door before I heard, "Wait," Marcel stood up and looked between klaus and me, "Coalition," He stated.

"Yes," I replied, "For the beginning, but I'm sure if Mr Mikaelson finds you agreeable he will find you a fixed position high up in his ranks."

"Certainly," Klaus added, "Should you prove agreeable."

Marcel seemed to think to himself for a moment, "Okay then, I accept. You won't find any objection from me, but I can't promise the same for the rest of them. By accepting this I trust I'm ensuring the safety of my people... our people."

"Well then," I said chirpily, "It's settled, once again, good evening."

"No April," He said quickly, "I want you here to witness this, even if you are more inclined towards Klaus."

I nodded, "Very well," I pulled out my phone and set it to voice record, "Marcel do you agree to step down from your sovereign position and to support Klaus' leadership as his right hand, helping him in his decisions and ensuring that the people respect his authority as they once did yours?"

He nodded, "I do."

"And do you Mr Mikaelson agree to accept Marcel as your right hand, and bring no harm to his people while you are their leader, aside from, of course, when it comes to matters of the law?"

Klaus nodded, "I do."

"And by adhering to this you're both agreeing that, should one of you turn on his word, it will be received as an official declaration of war?"

They gave each other sidelong glances, before both saying, "We do."

"Well then, by the power invested in me, by the two of you, I now pronounce this agreement binding by the laws of the vampire court of New Orleans until the unlikely event of disobedience to the agreement from either side." I switched off the recorder, "You may kiss the bride."

Marcel rolled his eyes at this whilst Klaus nodded at me and said, "Thank you, that is all."

"Right then, for the third time, good evening gentlemen."

"So, where are you taking me?" I asked Thierry as we strolled through the streets. I'd not put on a shawl, I'd no need of one as the evening was at that delicious stage of gentle yet intimate warmth. He gave a boyish smile, "The best party in town," He placed his right hand on my lower back to steer me to a small door, "Here we are."

It was a huge dark room filled with dancing, gyrating bodies. On one side was a bar, and opposite was a stage on which were a few jazz players. The sexy, enchanting music was pulsating through the room, through the bodies. It was like a scene from _Dirty Dancing. _A huge grin spread across my face, "This is wonderful, this is exactly what I need."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the centre of the floor as a madly upbeat song began. He span me around and we fell into pace with a fast step. It was magical, and for a moment or two I felt my problems fall away. "Thank you for this Thierry," I said over the music, "This is the best I've felt in a very long time."

"I feel the same way," he replied with a smile, "Sometimes I feel completely trapped in this city."

I nodded, "You can be in a room full of people and still feel totally alone. It's an awful cliche, and I do try not to let it affect me... but there are some things that just require human contact."

"Even when that human's not strictly human?"

I chuckled, "Even then. Anyway, most of the time, from my experience anyway, it's those who aren't entirely human that make the best drinking buddies."

"Do you want to tell me what's really troubling you?"

"You're awfully perceptive," I replied, "Then you probably know that I'm a terrible party planner."

"I'd guessed that."

"But you invited me out anyway?"

"I knew, I know that there's more to you than being a fake party planner." I felt a warm wave of affection for Thierry at that. "I met Klaus through my cousin... well my biological half sister, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Klaus had had some trouble with my cousin and her inner circle and that's how I met him. He promised me that he'd leave them alone if I were to help him."

"What do you think of him?"

I shrugged, "He's obviously very dangerous... but he's been kind to me where many people haven't," I raised an eyebrow, "But I can understand his being fucking terrifying."

He threw his head back and laughed, "He is absolutely petrifying isn't he. So tell me about home."

"Which one? I suppose London is my real home, then Cambridge and then Mystic Falls."

"Eclectic mix."

"I moved from America to London when I was in my mid to early teens with my father John,

my cousin's uncle. And when he died I stayed in London until I began university in Cambridge."

"Cambridge girl, you must be smart. I'm sorry about your father."

"Thank you," I held his gaze for a moment, "But what about you? I'm always curious to hear the life story of a vampire, I say always, I only found out about their existence about a month ago."

He raised his eyebrows, "I'm impressed. You're doing awfully well for someone so recently delivered from ignorance."

"Beautifully phrased," I smiled.

"Not much to tell. Marcel found me outside a hospital during the second world war. I was dying of an infected wound. He turned me and I've followed him ever since."

"Then I suppose you feel a certain sense of loyalty to him?"

His face gave away nothing, "I don't know. Once I wouldn't've had to think for a moment about my answer but now... now I simply don't know. You know I'm a musician, a trumpeter, Marcel said early on in my supernatural life that my talent and love for music would make immortality much more bearable."

"And does it?" I asked, my voice soft and genuine.

"I miss the feeling of living, really living. All the systems working in my body to create a functioning being. I miss the possibility of children, or marriage and grandchildren and death in my home surrounded by loved ones."

"Loved ones don't necessarily have to be relations. God knows I've avoided as many God awful family Christmases as humanly possible."

He laughed once again, "I can't tell you how nice it is to laugh again."

"Well how about this one; how do you get an elephant into a Safeway bag?"

"Firstly, what is Safeway?"

I grinned, "An old supermarket."

"Okay then... go on, tell me."

"You take the 's' out of safe and the 'f' out of way..."

He frowned, "But there's no 'f' in way..."

"Language Thierry" I scolded.

He chuckled, "That was just terrible."

"Yes but it got you to smile, and you've a nice smile."

Thierry stopped dancing, "Come on, I have somewhere I want you to see."

"Thierry... this is... breathtaking." I managed. He'd jumped us onto the roof of what seemed to be the tallest building in the whole city. The skyline was hauntingly beautiful against the purple red sunrise. "Not so much as you." It was a scene from a film. The sunrise, the soft tone to his voice. I turned slowly to see a look I'd seen a few times before, although this time it'd felt slightly different. I hadn't ensnared the man using my sexuality or my sarcastic wit, with Thierry I felt as though we'd bonded over something, connected over the mutual understanding of a few simple words. I felt the familiar pull between us, the magnetism. For once I wasn't thinking about Stefan or Silas or even Elena. All I could think about was the passionate and handsome man standing opposite me, and how much I wanted to kiss him. And so I did. The lean in felt as though it was 10 years rather than 10 seconds, but it was worth it. His lips were full, neither too firm nor too soft and after the right period of time the kiss was deepened by both parties. I could feel the familiar pooling in the pit of my stomach, to put it candidly; I was seriously hot for Thierry Vanchure. As we pulled away for a brief moment, I said, "I know it's forward, but-"

"Yes," He interrupted, "I know what you're going to say and yes please. Lead the way."

Sex with Thierry was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I suppose his being the first vamp I'd ever slept with had something to do with it. His love making was so far removed from the harsh brutality of Silas' assault only nights before and I could feel myself giving in more and more to this animalistic desire for Thierry that had sprung up in me. I lost myself completely and had the best orgasm, well best five orgasms I'd ever had. HAH.

I woke up from the best sleep I'd had in ages. I stretched out, feeling the delicious ache in my muscles, the perfect reminder of the previous evening's sport. I felt Thierry's arm draped lazily around my waist. I rolled over to find him looking even more alluring sleeping than he had the previous evening. I could remember what was said in the throes of passion.

"_I need to get away from this place, from New Orleans." _He'd said.

"_Then come with me."_

"_To Mystic Falls?"_

"_No, to London. And to Cambridge if you want."_

_He pulled away to cup my face and study it, "You're perfect. How did I deserve to meet someone so perfect?"_

"_Don't ever forget it."_

I slipped out of bed, quietly so as not to wake him, and threw on a dressing gown over my silk night dress. Padding down the corridor, I found Klaus still sitting up in his fire-lit study. He looked up as I entered, "There's still so much to prepare before my coronation."

"Don't tell me there's a ceremony," I scoffed, flopping down into an armchair.

"Only metaphorically of course, either way there's still a lot to be done. I'm sorry you'll have to leave."

"As am I, but I have to get back home before term starts again. That is if there's still a hope of my ever returning to Cambridge."

He frowned, "Why shouldn't there be?"

"Silas. He controls my life. He's been lenient these past few days with you and I fear this leniency won't last." I swallowed, staring down at my intertwined fingers.

"I've been meaning to speak with you about our plane trip down here. The pregnancy, it was... Silas. He... forced himself on me."

"Claudia, I'm sorry. Do you want me to kill him?"

I smiled weakly, "Can you?" I asked, "The simple truth of it is, I don't know what he means for me. I can't begin to explain it to Elena or Damon, god forbid I should sully Stefan's ears with further talk of my promiscuity-"

"-Stefan's a fool Claudia, he doesn't know what he's giving up. Anyway, from what I heard last night, you have a potential new suitor."

I grinned, "I know it's sudden, but I like him, I really do. We've plans to travel back to England together."

"I'm happy for you."

It was a little later on, when Thierry and I were loading up his old Mustang when I sensed something. One of the virtues of Silas' connection was that I now had some small grasp over a few of his powers. Namely, I could sometimes sense when great danger was near. Within seconds, we were surrounded. A few of them I recognized from the party, a few I didn't. The ring leader was Marcel. He took a few steps towards us, Thierry immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me next to him. "Thierry Vanchure, you've been accused of the murder of another vampire. The punishment for which is imprisonment."

I could see him slowly accepting his fate. "No," I shook my head, "No Thierry, you did nothing wrong, you were attempting to protect someone you love."

He shook his head at me, "I committed a crime, there's no hope for me."

"There's always hope," I said desperately, "Please my love, please."

He brushed a hand across my cheek before leaning in to give me one last kiss, "We're both immortal, we'll meet again." And then I was alone with nothing but the Mustang to reassure me that he wasn't a dream. I turned and hurried back into the house. "Mr Mikaelson!" I cried, "Please come down."

"What's wrong?" He appeared.

"They've taken Thierry. Marcel's band of monsters, they've taken him and mean to punish him for defense of a loved one. Please help, I know you can help."

He thought for a moment, "I can, but not immediately. I'll have to ease into the roll as sovereign before throwing any weight around. But I promise that I can deliver messages, letters and whatnot between the two of you."

I felt the emotion welling up, but the tears never came. Why wasn't I crying? I suddenly felt the weight of the world return to burden my shoulders, and a familiar wave of exhaustion came over me. I wanted to collapse on the ground, and to stay there for ever. "Claudia," Klaus added in a concerned tone, "I must have someone escort you home."

"I can do that." IN another almost comic ridiculous turn of events, none other than Elijah had appeared.

He stood in the doorway, looking just the same as he had when we'd last set eyes on one another. In short, he looked every inch the sexy powerful man. Klaus smirked, eyebrows raised. Whereas I shot him a withering glance, as if to say; _You can jump off a cliff for all I care, you inconsequential after thought. _"That won't be necessary," I said, civilly, "I'll need the journey to think."

He stepped further into the room, "Think about how you helped my brother blackmail a home and family away from a good man, a deserving man. Or think about how you led an unsuspecting man to his death or long term imprisonment this morning? Thierry had planned to run, but you kept him here."

I managed to keep the winded look of horror off my face, "You know this, how?"

"I helped him plan his escape. But you, you distracted him. You with your wit and you allure."

"My allure?" I repeated, a hint of humor to my voice.

"When I met you, I was captivated by your beauty, your intelligence... your power over everything and everyone around you, but now I see that that is all a mirage... an oasis. This beautiful perfect creature doesn't exist. Yes, you're beautiful and your cleverer than anyone I've ever met, but you don't use your power for good."

by this point, I was getting pretty tired of all the male vampires in my life taking the moral high ground and telling me I was the whore of Babylon. "Who do you think you are?" I asked quietly, "You don't know me, not at all, so what gives you the right to list my faults as if you have the ultimate authority. How dare you, you small man, you hypocrite."

So perhaps I said a bit too much. I saw an almost imperceptible vein throb on his forehead. I couldn't blame the poor man, he had the most difficult siblings in the world. "Careful Claudia, some things can't be so easily forgiven with a bat of the eyelids."

I smirked, "But things can be said easily."

"Yes and that's just your problem."

"Perhaps I'm not as clever as you think I am," I suggested innocently.

He shook his head, "You don't get to use that excuse. You don't get let off that easy."

"That easily, you mean."

"You're correcting my grammar, now?" He asked, incredulously.

I nodded, "Correct grammar is fundamental to one's cultivation. Even when one has no soul, one should always pride one's self in correct grammar. Don't you think?"


End file.
